Wabash School of Bin Building

Ever wondered how to build a grain bin?  Yeah, me neither.  But since grain bins are now a large chunk of my life, I have had to learn.  So, just in case you really have been wondering that, here is a short course in Bin Building 101.

Our first shipment of grain bin "pieces and parts" was delivered:

and off-loaded to be stored until time to build:

The long strips on the trailer are floor slats.  The curved bars on the forklift are roof supports.  We also received roof sheets:

Each stack of pie-shaped wedges will make one roof.  The variety of lengths corresponds with the diameter of the bin.  That oval cut-out will become a man-hole for access to the grain stored inside.

And of course a bin has to have walls:

These stacks of curved sheets will form the "rings" of the bins.  Bins are measured by diameter and height (number of rings).  The stack in the center will build bins with a 36' diameter.  The stack on the left will build 24' bins, so they are curved a little tighter.   There's a lot of detail about farm bins vs. commercial bins, the width of the rings, etc., but you get the idea.  The crates above the center stack hold the nuts and bolts of the business - literally.  There are more than 1000 bolts in an average grain bin.  Each one is inserted by hand by a crew member on the outside of the bin and tightened by a crew member on the inside, using an impact wrench.

When the weather warms up, we will start pouring concrete pads and erecting bins.  (And by "we" I mean Dave and a crew of 6 guys.)  Bins are built from the top down.  First the roof is constructed then jacks are used to raise it far enough to insert the first ring underneath.

Then two rings . . .

Four rings . . .

Six rings . . .

 Eight rings . . .

And the 9th and, in this case, final ring is in place. Time to start raising the second bin.

Next comes floors, spiral staircases, doors and installation of an auger.  This process takes 1 or 2 weeks - depending on bin size -  including time to pour concrete, let it cure for several days, erect the bin and add finishing touches.  

Thank you for attending Bin Building 101.  I'm sure this information will make for interesting conversation at your next cocktail party, or may come in handy in a game of Trivial Pursuit.  Here at Green Acres, it's just another day at work.

Cut 'em Out, Ride 'em In - Rawhide!

Last summer when our neighbors wanted to move their cattle from pasture west of our house to pasture east of our house, they had a miniature cattle drive down the road.  However, they forgot to take our driveway into account.  Forty heifers saw Green Acres as the proverbial "greener pasture", took a right turn and headed for the garden.  Fortunately for the garden, I was in it and chose to throw myself, leopard-print pajamas and all, into the line of fire - or line of stampede as the case may be.  Evidently a woman with bed head and the aforementioned pj's, waving her garden basket and yelling  "Hya" in her best imitation of a TV cowboy, gives cattle pause.  So, with modern cowboys charging through the yard on 4-wheelers yelling other, less printable words, the cattle happily returned to the road and on to their new home.  They did leave a few "reminders" in the yard that made for careful stepping for a couple days.

This year, when it came time for the same trek, the neighbors asked if we would park our pickup across the end of the driveway and "stand in the gap" to avoid a repeat.  Dave and Gabby-the-Big-Red-Idiot-Dog, took up position at the driveway and I did my best to make the gap between lilac bushes seem less attractive.    This plan worked perfectly and I had time to snap some pictures:

The new-fangeled version of a carrot on a stick - a hay bale on a pickup.

A couple of adventurous souls wandered into the grass near the drive,
but thought better of making a break for the garden.

This gal again wandered into the grass at my post, as if to say
"Do you really think you can stop me if I want through?"

And this little fella had to skip to keep up with mom.

Just one of the reasons we love life at Green Acres.

Count Your Blessings . . .

Just some of the many reasons I love Green Acres in the summer:

Clematis

Brave little Honeysuckle - trying to bloom even though it's too short to reach the trellis yet.

Lilies

Marigolds

Variegated petunias

Wave Petunias - package said red, half bloomed purple

Hydrangeas

The hollyhocks are back after last summer's drought.

Best of all, the perennials shown, plus Peonies, Columbine, Surprise Lilies and a half-dozen lilac bushes were planted by the previous owner.  Each year we're a little closer to restoring her beautiful gardens.  I still want to uncover the brick pathways connecting the flower beds - now overgrown with grass.  Pinterest suggests vinegar to kill the grass between the bricks, but I haven't tried it yet.  Any other ideas for killing grass ONLY on the walkways?  Ideas other than me and a shovel?  Tried that one last year and gave up after about 3 feet.  All help appreciated.

"Independent" Thoughts . . .

 Our July 4th celebration started a bit early with an Omaha Stormchasers (AAA farm team for the Royals) ball game, followed by fireworks.  The bank that sponsored the display gave out "prism" glasses that added a kaleidoscope effect .

Our seats weren't bad - row 1, behind home plate.

Also this week:

The lettuce crop got a bit out of hand.  Salad anyone?

I took my first walk around the section for the summer.  That dot of white on the left side is Green Acres.  The strip of yellow on the right is a wheat field being harvested.  Only a half-mile to go!

The walk was worth the aching feet and - ugh! - sweat.

The ditches were full of lilies . . .

I met these ladies who, for some reason, made me think of my sisters and I

- 1 blonde, 1 redhead, 1 brunette.  Hope they don't mind the comparison.

And this was the reward at the end of the road.  Priceless!

Have a safe and happy 4th of July.

God Bless the USA!

Are You My Mother?

Remember this classic from 1960 about a baby bird in search of his mother?    We read it to our children so many times we had it memorized.  

Thursday evening Dave became a character in a real-life version.  He found this baby blue-jay in the tree-row beside our house.  It was hopping around, screeching loudly, "Are you my mother?"  


Dave replied, "I am not your mother.  I am a man. But I will feed you worms to keep you alive until your mother returns."  And he did.

Since we were preparing to leave town, we couldn't do much else to assist the chick except keep the dogs away and hope that his mother would hear his cries (they were hard to miss) and come to his aid.

The Post About Nothing

The blog has been a little empty the past couple weeks.  That's because absolutely nothing worth writing about has happened.  Don't believe me?  Here are some examples of recent life at Green Acres:

Gabby, the Big Red Idiot Dog, got her head stuck inside the frisbie.   Serves her right for stealing the frisbie from Molly.

The plants I ordered - raspberry bush, hops vine and honeysuckle - arrived in the mail, but it's still too cold to plant, so they are resting comfortably in pots on the screened porch.

I participated in two on-line "barters" and received these fabrics, trims and yarn in exchange for some fabric I had no use for.

Dave and I enjoyed an evening around the fire with friends.

And the most frightening part is that I actually documented it all in photos  - just in case a blog post came to mind.

It's a Dog's Life . . .

Calves are one of my favorite signs of Spring - especially since we don't have to do any of the work of getting them here.  They usually show up in a stock trailer while I'm at work.  This evening we walked out to meet a couple new arrivals.

#9 wanted to play.

 Mama wasn't sure Gabby was an appropriate playmate.

When #9 got too close . . .

. . . Mama stepped in . . .

and checked out the interloper.

Gabby must have passed the test.  She let #9 make friends.

(Of course they had to pick the only spot on the fence with a stuck tumbleweed.)

And what has Molly doing during all this?

She kept Dave busy playing "Hide and Fetch" inside a stack of drainage tiles.

I'm Dreaming of a . . .

No, I'm not dreaming of a White Christmas, though it is snowing here.  I'm dreaming of a green garden, fresh vegetables and beautiful flowers.  My mother used to tell me "Your eyes are bigger than your stomach" when I took a larger portion than I could eat.  When the seed catalogs arrive, my eyes are bigger than our garden.  So, we're making a bigger garden.  The idea is to move the vining crops - melons, squash and cucumbers -  across the fence, staking off a corner of the pasture where we can expand as far as we want/need, and let the rest spread out in the established spot.  

Dave does a little weeding, while Gabby and the girls look on (2012)

This is only our third year of gardening.  The first year was modestly successful, in that we actually got a few things to grow - not bad for beginners.  We learned some lessons and last summer was much more productive.  The second garden taught us additional lessons:  Rabbits will eat your entire pea crop unless you build a fence.  The pepper varieties we planted (twice) and that never showed so much as a sprout, are obviously not suitable for our climate/soil.  Okra grows profusely, but it's all still in the freezer because we only like it deep fried and we've given up most fried foods.  And 36 tomato plants is excessive for two people - one of whom doesn't care for tomatoes.       

                            

We also have plans for other areas of the yard:

photos from Gurneys.com

Raspberries will be planted along the pasture fence, Fragrant Cloud honeysuckle will adorn the trellis on the north end of the house, and a Nugget hops vine will make it's way up the side of the old chicken coop.  The hops is mostly for looks and curiosity, but Dave might even try a home brew.  

The flower beds will have the usual marigolds, petunias and geraniums, as well as some new wildflowers, a replanting of the hollyhocks killed by drought last year (thank heaven I saved some seed), and the most exciting new addition - Strawberry Blonde and Chianti sunflowers.

Images from Burpee. com

We buy most of our garden seed and bedding plants locally, so it remains to be seen if we lose control when we get there and try something new, but that's the plan for now.   What's in your garden dreams?